Personal Boundaries and Authenticity

 

In my work as a counselor, I sometimes meet persons who are confused about personal boundaries. Poorly defined personal boundaries make our lives unnecessarily difficult, and they thwart our authentic expression. Given that having defined, yet flexible boundaries is a skill of personal authenticity, it warrants that we take a closer look at boundaries.

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Being Asked to Be More YourSelf

 

“Nothing good comes from Nazareth,” was a common saying 2,000 years ago in Judea. Contemplatives with an esoteric interpretation of those distant events sometimes interpret that saying as the belittling expectation that nothing good can come from ourselves. Yet history and others suggest otherwise.

That we expect little of ourselves results naturally from our upbringing, for it consists of so much outward turning to others for direction and instruction. We are born helpless. Our survival initially depends upon the mercies of our parents. Perforce we obey our parents instruction. From our parents, we are given over to schooling which socializes our young animals in how to act, feel, think, believe, and be. Moreover an instinct to find safety in the company of the herd encourages conformity.

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The Worth and Dignity of Being Human

 

Theme of the following quotations: The seeming trajectory of contemporary life may blind us to the innate worth and dignity of a human being. Yet Buddhists suggest that it is an exquisite and very rare privilege to be human. Humanists remind us of the magnificence of human nature. Personal authenticity expresses that innate value for what it is: the inexhaustible preciousness of Being revealing itself through each distinct human form.

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Personal Authenticity Expressing as the Individual's Uniqueness

 

Theme of the following quotations: Each person is a unique expression of Being. As children, we are socialized to become members of our culture. Without further psychological maturation, each person’s unique potential may succumb to conformity. Living authentically instead asks that we honor and express that unique potential.

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On Authenticity:

Better that the mass of mankind should disagree with me and contradict me than that I, a single individual, should be out of harmony with myself and contradict myself. — Socrates (c.469 BC-399 BC), in “Gorgias” by Plato

About …

The Personal Authenticity Project is a blog authored by Michael Nagel MA. The Project explores the practice of personal authenticity. Your comments help to clarify the meaning, practice, and relevance of personal authenticity.